Brick-machine



s. USTIGKQ BRICK MACHINE.

latented Apr. 18 1854.

"m: NORRIS PETERS 00.. Pumau'mcu WASHKNGTDN, o.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STEPHEN USTICK, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA.

BRICK-MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 10,777, dated April 18,1854c; Antedated November To all whom it may concern Be it known that I,STEPHEN Us'r1oK,of the city and county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement inBrick-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the construction and. operation of thesame, reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in whicha Figure 1 is a plan of the machine. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line w wofFig. 1. Fig. 4c is an end elevation of the machine. Fig. 5 is a rearview'of the movable piston 6. Fig. 6 is a top view of same.

Similar characters of reference in the several figures denote the samepart of the machine.

The nature of my invention consists in the employment of a combinationof movable and fixed pistons and movable mold boxes, arranged andoperating as will be hereafter described, together with an ar rangementfor receiving and delivering the molded brick, and also a combination ofdevices for lubricating the faces of the pistons after the delivery ofeach brick for preventing the adhesion of the clay to said pistons.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the drawing A and B are the top and bottom pieces of the frame, and Cthe vertical frame pieces, bolted fast between A and B. Resting in theguides 19 Z) (Fig. 4) and capable of a reciprocating motion in the sameare the molds a (Fig. 3) having in their upper portions the chambers a,which receive the clay from the hoppers C before it is pushed into thecondensing part of the mold. On the lower side of the molds a are thefriction wheels 0, which are pressed upon by the cam wheel cl, to give areciprocating motion to the molds, as and for the purposes hereafter tobe described.

The movable pistons e are of the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6, theirslides 6 working in grooves in the inner faces of the side pieces f, bythe action of the cam m upon the rollers g in their rear extremities, orof the cams h and 'i (Fig. 1) on the rollers 57 beneath the pistons. Thecams i, which pistons 9 are bolted to the frame of the machine and bythe movement of the mold condense the clay on the side nearest them, aswill. be hereafter described.

Fa-stened to the exterior of the cam wheel (Z are the hands Q, on whichthe bricks drop when pushed fromthe molds. Beneath them are the wheels7, which by running upon the inclined planes 8 elevate the hands to thelevel of the bottom of the molds to receive the brick and afterwardlower the same to the level of the tables 6, on which the bricks aredischarged. Bolted fast to the hands 9, are the lubricating boxes u,having their sides which pass between the faces of the pistonsconstructed of leather or other absorbing substance tacked on the endsand bottom of the boxes, which are of wood or other suitable material.The tops of the boxes are either left open or covered with a hinged orother fastened lid. These boxes being filled with oil gently lubricatethe faces of the pistons as they pass between them by the ooze throughthe leather sides. Besides oiling the pistons the front faces of theboxes push the bricks from between said pistons as the hands g rise toreceive them. The bricks are delivered upon the tables 25 from the hands9, by the pressure of the fingers 00 against them, said fingers having alateral movement by reason of the pressure of the cams y y on thefriction rollers e of the slides to, causing said slides to move overtheguides o, fastened beneath the cam wheel (Z.

In the under sides of the molds a are cross grooves a for the escape ofair condensed during the pressure of the bricks. These groves are keptopen by scrapers b on the cam wheel cl, which pass through them at thetime of greatest condensation.

I have represented but two molds in the machine, but design in practiceto employ a series of molds with their pistons radiating from the centershaft n, an even number being generally employed, so that equal pressureshall be produced on opposite sides of the cams. The several hop ers Iconnect at top with an annular troug from which they receive theirsupply of clay.

The operation of my machine is as follows :Moti0n is communicated to theshaft a, revolving 'the'cam wheel d and cam m in the direction of thearrow, causing the series of cams onthe wheel d to give a reciprocatingmotion to themolds a, and the ca1ns-m,hand 'Za similar motion to thepistons e, with the effect below described. Commencing with the cam Zofthe wheel (Z (Fig. l) on the line so 00, the molds a have theirextreme outward position, the extremity of the said cam pressing.against the roller 0. The'hopper 0 is then directly over the receivingchamber a and space between the pistons 31 and 6. At this time thecondensing chamber R receives its charge of clay from the hopper 0', thequantity received being well packed by the weight of the entire head ofclay in the hopper, the quantity, which depends upon the position of thepiston e, being regulated by the position of the cam '5, against therear extremity of which the friction roller presses when the wheel clhas the above described position. This adjustment of the'cam i, as abovestated, is regulated by the revolution of the oblique wheel j, which'turningbetween the pins on the under face of the cam to the desiredposition to admit of the reception of the required quantity of clay.From the point 1 the mold a moves inward until the point 2 reaches thewheel '0, at which time the receiving chamber a has passed over theupper surface of the piston 6, cutting off the clay in the condensingchamber R from the supply above. Between the points 2 and 4 the piston eis moved into the mold to condense the clay by the cam m bearing againstthe friction roller g, while at the same time the mold a is movedoutward over the stationary piston 2 with half the velocity of thepiston e, which effects an equal pressure by both moving and stationarypistons and makes the bricks of equal solidity on both sides. When thepoint 3 is on the line w w the several parts have the positions shown byFig. 3. The cleaner Z) passes through the opening a in the bottom of themold at the time of nearly maximum compression, causing the condensedair to pass out during the operation, thus preventing the after crackingof the brick. The pressure of the brick being completed at the point 4,the mold is moved toward the center of the machine as the cam from 4 to5 passes the line 00 as, during which time the roller 9 bears againstthe concentric portion 9 of the cam wheel m, to retain the pressureagainst the faces of thebrick, in order that the condensed a1r that mayhave remained in them (notwithoff their faces, to avoid the cracking ofthe brick. As the point 5 passes the line a? w, the extremity of thecamh acting on the roller 9, draws the piston c slightly toward the centerof the machine, and the brick falls upon the hand 9, which at that timeis directly under it, the oily sides of the box u wiping the faces ofthe pistons to prevent the adhesion of the following made bricks. Fromthe point 5 to the point 1 the cam wheel (Z carries the mold a to itsextreme outer position, and the cami withdraws the piston e the requireddistance for the supply of clay, bringing the machine in the position atwhich the description of its operation commenced. After receiving thebrick the hand 9 descends to nearly the level of the table :6, by theroller 1 running down the inclined plane 8, and the cam y pressingagainst the friction wheel 2 pushes out the slide to and with it thefinger m, which gently slides the brick upon the table t, whence it isremoved by the operatives. The cam y withdraws the slide w and finger m.

The operation of making a single brick has been described above, thoughany reasonable number can be produced by an-increase of pistons, &c.,the movement of the opposite pistons being simultaneous.

Instead of the molds and pistons vibrating in stationary frames and thecams revolving upon a central shaft, I claim the right of reversing theorder of arrangement by making the cam wheels (Z and m stationary on acenter shaft supported by a suitable frome work and placing the moldsand pistons on a revolving wheel, the stationary pistons being firmlysecured to the rim of the wheel, as in such arrangement the same efiectswould be produced substantially in all the operations of the molds andpistons.

In working the clay with the ordinary degree of moisture it has whenworked in dry clay machines the arrangement of the hoppers asrepresented would be adequate to secure the filling of the molds. Butshould it be desired to work it so moist that the molds would notreadily fill I design using knives, placed spirally on a shaft, to forcethe clay down the hoppers. In such case that part of the hopper in whichthe knives revolve should be circular. As a similar arrangement ofhopper is used in tempered clay machines, a particular description isnot given here.

I do not claim in general the combination of the reciprocating moldboxes with the stationary and movable pistons; nor do I claim merelyfeeding the clay through the side of the mold box at right angles to theline of motion of the piston, as these features exist in other machines;but

hat I do claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. The arrangement substantially as herein described of the mold boxwith the fixed and movable pistons, whereby, by its motion in the lineof motion of the piston, it is made to perform the function of feedingthe clay between the pistons, shutting it 05 from communication with thehopper, and discharging the brick.

2. I claim the apparatus for receiving and delivering the brickconsisting of the hand STEPHEN USTICK. [L. s.]

Witnesses:

WM. B. AITKEN, DAVID ELDRIDGE.

